This invention relates to attachment clips and more particularly to an attached clip especially suitable for use in attaching a vehicular wire harness to a panel of the vehicle.
In the automotive arts electrical conductors are commonly bundled into wire harnesses. These wire harnesses extend throughout the vehicle to power various systems. At certain locations in the vehicle, the wire harnesses need to be supported on a vehicle panel, usually a piece of sheet metal. Clips or other types of fasteners are used for this purpose. The sheet metal, and the apertures (for receiving the clips) in the sheet metal, have to be stamped and cut to thicknesses and specifications which allow the clips to be easily and reliably secured to the panels.
Prior art clips, for example like the ones described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,752 or Japanese Patent 2-118418, require high insertion force. They also require that the mechanisms for operating and locking the clips be off-set from the insertion direction of the clip so that the insertion force can be applied without interference from, and without breaking, the locking mechanisms. In the confined spaces of engine compartments, and in other tight areas of the vehicle, it is sometimes difficult or impossible to provide the needed force to insert clip legs in the vehicle panel. Hand room for locking the clip around the wire harness is usually restricted.
The clip legs are typically of the type which must be compressed together as they are squeezed though the vehicle panel apertures. The clip legs must be larger than the aperture to provide interference, and thus retention, after the clip legs are inserted through the aperture. If the aperture is too small (outside of the tolerances allowed), very great insertion force is needed, which could lead to deformation or breaking of the clip and possible injury to the assembler. Additionally, the clip often needs structure in addition to the clip legs to prevent the clip and harness from moving along the surface of the panel.
Further, the prior art clips typically are very difficult to remove after insertion and are therefore, as a practical matter, not reusable; the prior art clips typically do not include any visual indication that the clip is fully locked; and the prior art clips are extremely sensitive to tolerance variations with respect to the panel thickness.